Page 10 of Maximus (Gold Team #4)

My hands shook as I tweezed the last shard of glass out of Max’s shoulder. I thought one of the cuts needed stitches. He disagreed, then held up a bottle of skin glue and some tape.

Crazy man !

“It’s gonna scar,” I told him. “Maybe if a doctor stitches it closed, it won’t.”

“Babe, does it look like I’m a stranger to scars?”

No, no, he didn’t, and if all of the marks on his back were anything to go by, he was well-acquainted with all sorts of injuries.

And when he’d been facing me, holy shit, it’d been impossible not to stare at his impressive chest. He had muscle stacked on top of muscle.

But what had caught my attention was a long puckered scar that started right above his belly button, went diagonal toward his hip, then dipped under his waistband.

I wanted to run my finger over it, trace the line, and see where it ended. But I didn’t dare.

“Where’d they all come from?” I asked about his marks.

“Here and there.”

“From when you were in the Navy?”

“Some. ”

Well, that was cryptic . I let the subject drop because he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and I wiped some blood from his skin.

“Do you want to wait for me to glue you shut until after you’ve had a shower?”

I glanced around him and met his stare in the mirror.

He looked pensive before he quickly shut down and gave me his cool blank eyes. It was crazy how one look could chill me to the bone or make me feel warm and flustered. It was strange—he made me feel strange.

Hot and cold.

Fire and ice.

I couldn’t get a read on him and I’d tried.

I wasn’t afraid of Max, though maybe I should’ve been. All the way around, he was bad for my health and I knew it the moment I started to care what he thought of me. I didn’t have the luxury of caring about anything other than my boys. They were my priority.

“Yeah. Thanks for your help.”

“Anytime.” I shrugged and beat a hasty retreat out of the bathroom.

Liam and Eli were still on the couch, Eli now in control of the remote. I knew this because cartoons were on, something that Liam tolerated because his brother liked them, but at six, he’d deemed them for babies.

“You guys hungry?” I asked, plastering on what I hoped looked like a happy smile.

Two yeahs rang out from the couch and both boys turned to face me.

Damn, I had good-looking boys. They were everything good in my world—they were my purpose for living. My boys were the only reasons I hadn’t curled up in the fetal position and given up. We had to make it through, I had to be strong for them. Had to . There was no other option .

“Who wants to help me in the kitchen?”

“Me!” Eli shouted and jumped up.

Liam was slower to follow and less enthusiastic, but he trailed behind his brother.

This was our thing—cooking. It always had been.

As soon as Liam was big enough to sit on the counter, his tushie was on it and he was helping.

Then Elijah came along and now he did the mixing while Liam measured and poured.

I was no master chef, but what I lacked in culinary skills I made up for with fun.

We danced, we sang, we goofed around. Our time.

Just the three of us, spending time together cooking.

Best time of the day was when we were together.

“What are we going to make?” Liam asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s look through the cupboards and fridge and see what we have.”

“Is this Max’s house?”

“No, honey. It belongs to one of his friends,” I told Liam, then decided to give my son some honesty. “This place is called a safehouse.”

Liam’s head cocked to the side, a lock of hair falling over his forehead reminding me he needed a haircut, and his nose scrunched in confusion.

“Remember back at the restaurant, there was an explosion?” Liam’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Well, Max wants to keep us safe. So he asked one of his friends if we could stay here. That way, no one can find us and Max and his friends can find out what happened at the restaurant.”

“Are we going to die?” Liam asked.

“Absolutely not!” Max boomed from behind me, scaring the absolute shit out of me.

I jumped, banging my elbow on the counter, before I turned to face him. I also may’ve taken a step in front of Liam and Elijah.

Max’s expression was piss-your-pants frightening. Furious didn’t begin to cover it. His pale blue eyes had gone glacial. He was scowling, complete with deep, hard lines between his eyebrows. And lastly, he was still shirtless but not wet, which meant he hadn’t taken a shower yet.

“Max! You scared me.”

His gaze racked over me, then beyond me to the boys, and glacial was a thing of the past. Fire had melted the ice. The air turned stifling, so thick that it was hard to draw in much-needed oxygen since I was panting.

“No one is going to hurt any of you,” Max continued.

“But someone hurt you,” Liam argued.

“The only thing that matters is no one hurt any of you.”

“That’s not true,” I cut in.

“Which part, Eva?”

“That it doesn’t matter that you got hurt protecting us. It does matter. And the boys should be grateful you put yourself in harm’s way for us, not told that your wellbeing doesn’t matter. That’s crap, Max. Your life is just as important as ours, so please don’t tell my kids you don’t matter.”

Nothing.

Not even a flicker of recognition I’d spoken.

“Is everything all right?”

“I came out to remind you not to open the door.”

Well, that was mildly insulting—I wasn’t some dipshit who had a death wish, therefore I’d go traipsing outside for funsies.

“Right,” I mumbled. “Thanks for reminding me, otherwise I may’ve taken the kids for a stroll.”

“Now’s not the time to be a smartass.”

“But now’s the time for you to treat me like I’m an idiot?”

Max said nothing.

Then he turned and walked away.

I was reconsidering my earlier assessment—maybe I should be afraid of Max. He had no problem turning his anger toward me.

Liam broke into my thoughts. “Is someone trying to hurt us?”

I took a deep breath, and even though Max was no longer scorching the room with his presence, it still burned to inhale.

“Remember Tex?”

“The man who saved us.”

It wasn’t a question, I knew my boy would never forget Tex—I made sure of it.

“Yes, honey, that’s him. He still watches out for us. He thinks that…well…he sent Max to make sure we were safe.”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said, honey. I didn’t want you or your brother to be scared. So I didn’t tell you the truth about who Max was.”

“You lied.”

Christ Almighty, Liam’s accusation hurt like a bitch.

“Yes, Liam. I didn’t tell you the truth. Like I said, I didn’t want to scare you and I wasn’t certain Tex was right. He likes us a lot, and because of that, he’s protective of us. I thought that it would be best until I knew for sure not to tell you.”

“But lying is wrong. That’s what you always say.”

“It is. I’m very sorry if I hurt your feelings, but it’s my job to protect you. And part of that is making sure you and your brother aren’t scared and worried something bad is going to happen.”

“Mommy,” Eli murmured and my eyes went to my youngest son. “Is Daddy gonna take us again?”

“No, Elijah,” Max said from behind me. But this time I didn’t move. I was utterly frozen from the fear in Eli’s voice. “No one is going to ever take you from your mom again.”

“Are you sure?” Liam pressed .

“Positive.”

“So we’re not really on vacation?”

“You were on vacation,” Max continued. “Your mom wanted to give you and Elijah something fun to do while I kept you safe.”

“But we’re not on vacation anymore?”

“Elijah, honey?” I called.

My boy looked up at me, tears welling in his big eyes, hands trembling, and agony tore through me. I stepped around Liam and scooped Eli up. His little arms went around my neck and his legs wrapped around my waist.

“I don’t want to go,” Eli whispered.

“Honey, you’re not going anywhere. No one is gonna take you from me. I promise.”

Eli’s body shook in my arms, shattering my loose hold on my own tears. “Swear it, Elijah. No one is taking you or your brother. Not ever again, honey.”

Elijah shoved his face into my neck, wet leaked from his eyes, blazing a path down my skin, scorching my flesh. Once again, my son was scared. Once again, he was crying. And again, it was because of me.

My chest burned, my heart shattered, my stomach roiled, and soul ached.

When did it end? Not for me but for my kids. When did they stop paying the price for my stupidity?

“Did you guys decide on dinner?” Max inquired.

His voice—rough and deep. I looked over my shoulder to find him with fresh clothes on, his hair wet. His face looked better, but not super. Arms crossed over his chest, fiery look aimed direct at me.

Great .

I appreciated him intervening and trying to change the subject, but damn, I didn’t need his attitude.

“Not yet,” Liam told him .

My son stared up at Max. I had him in profile but I could tell he was struggling with the news that Max was playing bodyguard. Or more to the point, that we needed a bodyguard.

“Mom makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches,” Liam informed Max. “Maybe we can have those?”

“The best, huh?” Max teased, smiling at Liam.

Once again, Max’s mood flipped. It was seriously hard to keep up.

“Yeah. They’re like, world famous.”

“Well, now I have to try one.”

Liam glanced over at me and looked hopeful.

“Sure, honey, if that’s what you want.”

Eli nodded his agreement into my neck. Liam smiled. Max just stared.

Two out of three wasn’t bad.

And really, Max wasn’t my problem. He could scowl at me all he wanted. As long as he continued to be nice to my boys, it didn’t matter.

But it did sting.